Johnny Cash-A Boy Named Sue lyrics

By: Shel Silverstein  
  Recorded by J.R. Cash on 2/24/69  
  Number one - Country Charts  
  Number two - Pop Charts  
    
  My daddy left  
 home when I was three  
  And he didn`t leave  
 much to ma and me  
  Just this old guitar  
 and an empty bottle of booze.  
  Now, I don`t blame  
 him cause he run and hid  
  But the meanest  
 thing that he ever did  
  Was before he left,  
 he went and named me `Sue.`  
    
  Well, he must o`  
 thought that is quite a joke  
  And it got a lot  
 of laughs from a` lots of folk,  
  It seems I had  
 to fight my whole life through.  
  Some gal would  
 giggle and I`d get red  
  And some guy`d laugh  
 and I`d bust his head,  
  I tell ya, life ain`t  
 easy for a boy named `Sue.`  
    
  Well, I grew up  
 quick and I grew up mean,  
  My fist got hard  
 and my wits got keen,  
  I`d roam from town  
 to town to hide my shame.  
  But I made a  
 vow to the moon and stars  
  That I`d search the honky-tonks and bars  
  And kill that man  
 who gave me that awful name.  
    
  Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July  
  And I just hit  
 town and my throat was dry,  
  I thought I`d stop  
 and have myself a brew.  
  At an old saloon  
 on a street of mud,  
  There at a table, dealing stud,  
  Sat the dirty, mangy  
 dog that named me `Sue.`  
    
  Well, I knew that  
 snake was my own sweet dad  
  From a worn-out  
 picture that my mother`d had,  
  And I knew that scar  
 on his cheek and his evil eye.  
  He was big and  
 bent and gray and old,  
  And I looked at  
 him and my blood ran cold  
  And I said: `My name  
 is `Sue!` How do you do!  
  Now your gonna die!!`  
    
  Well, I hit him  
 hard right between the eyes  
  And he went  
 down, but to my surprise,  
  He come up with a knife  
 and cut off a piece of my ear.  
  But I busted a  
 chair right across his teeth  
  And we crashed through  
 the wall and into the street  
  Kicking and a` gouging in the  
 mud and the blood and the beer.  
    
  I tell ya, I`ve fought tougher men  
  But I really can`t remember when,  
  He kicked like a mule  
 and he bit like a crocodile.  
  I heard him laugh  
 and then I heard him cuss,  
  He went for his  
 gun and I pulled mine first,  
  He stood there lookin` at  
 me and I saw him smile.  
    
  And he said:  
 `Son, this world is rough  
  And if a man`s gonna  
 make it, he`s gotta be tough  
  And I knew I wouldn`t  
 be there to help ya along.  
  So I give ya  
 that name and I said goodbye  
  I knew you`d have  
 to get tough or die  
  And it`s the name  
 that helped to make you strong.`  
    
  He said: `Now you just  
 fought one hell of a fight  
  And I know you hate  
 me, and you got the right  
  To kill me now, and  
 I wouldn`t blame you if you do.  
  But ya ought to  
 thank me, before I die,  
  For the gravel in ya  
 guts and the spit in ya eye  
  Cause I`m the  
 son-of-a-bitch that named you `Sue.``  
    
  I got all choked up  
 and I threw down my gun  
  And I called him my  
 pa, and he called me his son,  
  And I came away  
 with a different point of view.  
  And I think  
 about him, now and then,  
  Every time I try  
 and every time I win,  
  And if I ever have a  
 son, I think I`m gonna name him  
  Bill or George! Anything but  
 Sue! I still hate that name!